10 Tips for Getting Longer, Thicker, Sexier Hair

From super-easy styling tricks to game-changing cuts and nutrient-rich foods, here's how to have the hair you always wanted, but never knew how to get.

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By
Nicole Catanese

Feb 02, 2014

Longer Hair:

Remember Rapunzel? Once her braid was long enough, she tossed it down to the prince and girl was outta there. Today, she'd be in trouble. Between dye jobs, stress, and styling, growing hair can be a beyotch. To the rescue: these accelerators and illusionist tricks.

In-Shower Secret

Shampoo matters! "Hair follicles are only 1.25 mm below the surface of the scalp, so cleansing ingredients really can reach them," says Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips, a hair scientist at the Philip Kingsley Trichological Clinic, in New York. Look for formulas enriched with vitamins E and B5, zinc, iron, and copper — they increase keratin production, the building block of hair.

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Game-Changing Treatment

Instead of having your stylist trim ratty ends, find one who offers the Brazilian Blowout Professional Split-End Repair (about $25, brazilianblowout.com). Amino acids and seaweed extracts bond tattered fibers (like a liquid Band-Aid) for up to a month.

No-Fail Styling Trick

Ditch the round brush. "The barrel curls hair under or out, creating the look of shorter strands," says NYC stylist Nunzio Saviano. Instead, use a paddle brush. It helps ends lie flat, so they look longer.

Cure-All Cut

Opt for a blunt style with either full or sideswept bangs. Alone, the crisp ends create an elongated effect, "but the contrast between your fringe line and your ends amplifies the effect," says Saviano.

"Hair that's slightly deeper at the roots and lighter at the ends not only looks on-trend but also creates the illusion of length," says colorist Charles Baker Strahan.

Thicker Hair:

Precious few are born with luscious, shampoo-ad hair. Steal these tricks and transform fine, limp strands into sexy volume.

In-Shower Secret

"The same ingredients that make your skin amazing can work wonders with your hair," says Dennis Gross, MD, a dermatologist in New York City. Two of his top picks: peptides, which stimulate hair growth, and salicylic acid, which sloughs the scalp, so debris doesn't block follicles. (Find both in Dr. Dennis Gross Root Resilience Strengthening Shampoo, $38, sephora.com.)

Game-Changing Treatment

There's fine hair, and there's thinning hair — a condition that affects a whopping 30 million women in the U.S. The only FDA-approved drug for treating it is Minoxidil, once found only in Rogaine but now in Pantene Expert Hair Regrowth Treatment too. It preserves the hair you have and helps spur new growth.

No-Fail Styling Trick

"Dry shampoo and volumizer are nonnegotiables," says Baker Strahan, who swears by a cocktail of Herbal Essences Naked Volume Dry Shampoo and Volumizing Soufflé ($5 each, drugstores). "They temporarily increase the width of strands plus help them stand up at the root."

Cure-All Cut

A cut — specifically one that involves long layers as well as a few around the face — is actually key to a fuller look. "Layers create a stacked effect, allowing more air and movement and therefore fullness between sections," says celeb stylist Adir Abergel.

Right Hue for You

Fake natural-born thickness with thin highlights. "Bleach causes individual strands to expand, so they feel and look thicker," says Baker Strahan. "The mix of light and dark pieces also creates more depth — key to the full-body look."

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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